Long-term albumin administration in decompensated cirrhosis (ANSWER): an open-label randomised trial.

Background: Evidence is scarce on the efficacy of long-term human albumin (HA) administration in patients with decompensated cirrhosis. The human Albumin for the treatmeNt of aScites in patients With hEpatic ciRrhosis (ANSWER) study was designed to clarify this issue.

Methods: We did an investigator-initiated multicentre randomised, parallel, open-label, pragmatic trial in 33 academic and non-academic Italian hospitals.

Monoclonal gammopathy after liver transplantation: a risk factor for long-term medical complications other than malignancies.

The aims of the study were to evaluate (i) the prevalence of MGUS in patients after liver transplantation (LT), (ii) the role of MGUS as a risk factor for malignancy and other medical complications after LT. One hundred and fifty consecutive patients were included in the study and followed prospectively after LT for more than 18 months. Eighteen patients had MGUS before LT, whereas 49 patients developed MGUS after LT ('de novo' MGUS).

Oral magnesium supplementation improves vascular function in elderly diabetic patients.

Magnesium (Mg) ions directly influence vascular tone and responsiveness and are cofactors for acetylcholine-induced endothelium-dependent relaxation. Alterations in extracellular Mg are able to modify the formation and release of nitric oxide (NO), altering arterial smooth muscle tone. Previous in vivo studies in humans have shown that parenteral or oral Mg supplementation increase endothelial-dependent vasodilation.

Age, homocysteine, and oxidative stress: relation to hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Objectives: Hyperhomocysteinemia and oxidative stress are independent risk factors for cardiovascular events, which occur more frequently in old age. We evaluated these parameters in relation to age and the presence of hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Methods: Two hundred eighty-two subjects (female/male: 142/140; 141 were >65 years and 141 were <65 years; mean age 73.

Combined versus sequential diuretic treatment of ascites in non-azotaemic patients with cirrhosis: results of an open randomised clinical trial.

Objective: The aim of the study was to compare sequential versus combined diuretic therapy in patients with cirrhosis, moderate ascites and without renal failure.

Design: One hundred patients were randomly assigned to the two diuretic treatments. The sequential treatment provided potassium canrenoate at the initial dose of 200 mg/day, then increased to 400 mg/day.

Blood pressure and cardiovascular risk profiles of Africans who migrate to a Western country.

Objectives: Africans who live in Western countries have a higher prevalence of hypertension and other cardiovascular risk factors than do age-matched Africans who live in Africa. We conducted a community survey to evaluate cardiovascular risk in Africans who recently migrated to Italy.

Methods: Participants (N=83) from sub-Saharan Africa were recruited from an outpatient clinic for immigrants.

Nifedipine versus carvedilol in the treatment of de novo arterial hypertension after liver transplantation: results of a controlled clinical trial.

The aim of this study was to compare nifedipine and carvedilol in the treatment of de novo arterial hypertension after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). The study included 50 patients who developed arterial hypertension after OLT. Twenty-five patients received nifedipine (group A), and 25 received carvedilol (group B).

Cardiovascular risk factors in centenarians.

Several studies have shown that centenarians have better cardiovascular risk profiles compared to younger old people. Some reports have revealed that cardiovascular diseases (i.e.

Role of eosinophils and neutrophils in innate and adaptive protective immunity to larval strongyloides stercoralis in mice.

The goal of this study was to determine the roles of eosinophils and neutrophils in innate and adaptive protective immunity to larval Strongyloides stercoralis in mice. The experimental approach used was to treat mice with an anti-CCR3 monoclonal antibody to eliminate eosinophils or to use CXCR2-/- mice, which have a severe neutrophil recruitment defect, and then determine the effect of the reduction or elimination of the particular cell type on larval killing. It was determined that eosinophils killed the S.

Ageing, lifestyle modifications, and cardiovascular disease in developing countries.

Developing countries face the double menace of still prevalent infectious diseases and increasing cardiovascular disease (CVD) with epidemic proportions in the near future, linked to demographic changes (expansion and ageing), and to urbanisation and lifestyle modifications. It is estimated that the elderly population will increase globally (over 80% during the next 25 years), with a large share of this rise in the developing world because of expanding populations. Increasing longevity prolongs the time exposure to risk factors, resulting in a greater probability of CVD.

Comparison between nifedipine and carvedilol in the treatment of de novo arterial hypertension after liver transplantation: preliminary results of a controlled clinical trial.

There is no controlled clinical trial on the treatment of de novo arterial hypertension after liver transplantation (LT) a common complication using calcineurin inhibitors (CNI) for immunosuppressive therapy. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy and safety of nifedipine, a calcium channel blocker, and carvedilol, an alpha1- and beta-blocker. The study included 50 patients who developed arterial hypertension after LT.

The role of nitric oxide in the pathogenesis of systemic and splanchnic vasodilation in cirrhotic rats before and after the onset of ascites.

Background: The role of nitric oxide (NO) in the pathogenesis of splanchnic arterial vasodilation in cirrhosis has been recently debated by some experimental studies.

Aims: We investigated the role of NO in the pathogenesis of the splanchnic arterial vasodilation along the course of CCl(4)-induced experimental cirrhosis.

Methods: We analyzed the effect on mean arterial pressure (MAP), cardiac output (CO), total peripheral resistance (TPR), and resistance in the superior mesenteric artery (RSMA), before and after the administration of a unspecific NO synthase (NOS) inhibitor (Nomega-nitro-L-arginine-methyl-ester, L-NAME) and a specific NOS2 inhibitor (L-N-(1-iminoethyl)-lysine, L-NIL) to cirrhotic rats with and without ascites, and to control rats.

Evaluation of an IgM-ELISA test for the diagnosis of human leptospirosis.

Leptospirosis is a zoonosis with a worldwide distribution very common in most countries. In Italy this acute febrile illness is more frequent in the Northern than in the Southern regions. In the period 1994-1996, the number of cases of Leptospirosis in Sicily was lower with respect to the northern-central regions (7.

Immunoglobulin E and eosinophil-dependent protective immunity to larval Onchocerca volvulus in mice immunized with irradiated larvae.

Mice immunized with irradiated Onchocerca volvulus third-stage larvae developed protective immunity. Eosinophil levels were elevated in the parasite microenvironment at the time of larval killing, and measurements of total serum antibody levels revealed an increase in the immunoglobulin E (IgE) level in immunized mice. The goal of the present study was to identify the role of granulocytes and antibodies in the protective immune response to the larval stages of O.

Specificity and mechanism of immunoglobulin M (IgM)- and IgG-dependent protective immunity to larval Strongyloides stercoralis in mice.

Protective immunity in mice to the infective third-stage larvae (L3) of Strongyloides stercoralis was shown to be dependent on immunoglobulin M (IgM), complement activation, and granulocytes. The objectives of the present study were to determine whether IgG was also a protective antibody isotype and to define the specificity and the mechanism by which IgG functions. Purified IgG recovered from mice 3 weeks after a booster immunization with live L3 was shown to transfer high levels of protective immunity to naïve mice.

Role of magnesium in insulin action, diabetes and cardio-metabolic syndrome X.

Magnesium (Mg) is one of the most abundant ions present in living cells and its plasma concentration is remarkably constant in healthy subjects. Plasma and intracellular Mg concentrations are tightly regulated by several factors. Among them, insulin seems to be one of the most important.

Comparison between two high-dose methylprednisolone schedules in the treatment of acute hepatic cellular rejection in liver transplant recipients: a controlled clinical trial.

Intravenous methylprednisolone is used in most liver transplant centers as first-line therapy of acute hepatic cellular rejection in patients who undergo liver transplant. However, no controlled study has been performed to date to define the optimal dose and duration of the steroid regimen. The schedules that actually are used in most transplant centers are drawn from those that were developed empirically for the treatment of acute renal graft rejection.